The Bakersfield Voice
Fabric-aholics
Fabric-aholics
By: Lisa Wuertz, Voice Editor
Description: Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern prepare for show at Kern County Fairgrounds
Topics: quilt, quilting, quilters Bakersfield, embroidery, long quilt, Home of the Brave project, charity
Originally posted on SWVoice Tue Jan 8, 2008 11:25:59 PST
Viewed 601 times
0 responses Location: 1142 P Street, Bakersfield, CA
Fast forward nearly 30 years, and the quilting guild now has around 280 members, holds both day and night monthly meetings, hosts a two-day, biannual quilt show at the Kern County Fairgrounds, and donates quilts to various philanthropic projects.
“Quilting is very addicting,” said Southwest resident Steffani McChesney. “Once you start quilting you just can’t stop.”
McChesney is a self-proclaimed “fabric-aholic,” with a room in her home dedicated to material, and said that choosing fabrics for her projects is the best part about quilting.
McChesney has served as president of the guild in the past and is currently the publicity chairman.
She is also involved with about three different “friendship groups.”
Just as in centuries past, women from across Bakersfield gather in these small friendship groups to quilt, gossip, share ideas for projects and learn new techniques.
“Every time I sit at the table and sew, I learn some new little nugget,” said Betty Colbert, current guild president. “Quilting promotes camaraderie. It’s just like the old quilting bees with women gathered together to quilt around the old frames. Now we just get four to five people around the table.”
Colbert, McChesney and several other ladies are in a friendship group known as “The Burrito Babes.” They were dubbed as such by their husbands because of a love for Mexican food. The babes meet once a week on Tuesdays at a member’s home. The meeting is an entire day of quilting with a break for Mexican food at lunch.
The guild is known around Southern California because of their size and the ability of the members. Several are nationally-known winners at invitation-only juried shows and have been featured in quilting magazines.
The large group represents people of diverse backgrounds, there are even a few men. It is because of their size that the group holds two meetings on the third Thursday of every month at 9:30 a.m. and at 6:30 p.m. at the Veteran’s Hall, 400 W. Norris Road.
Right now the guild is gearing up for the biannual quilt show, which will be held Jan. 25 and 26 at the Kern County Fairgrounds, 1142 South P St. There will be more than 200 quilts on display, including those of award-winning featured local artist Cindy Seitz-Krug. Multiple prizes will be given out each day, including an award-winning opportunity quilt that 14 guild members worked on. The quilt was appraised at $3,000 prior to winning awards. Attendees can also bring in quilts to have them appraised for a small fee.
“Anyone that sews — or even if they don’t — will appreciate the workmanship and technique of the quilts on display at the show,” said Colbert.
Promoting a love of quilting is not the guild’s only goal. The guild members are also involved in a variety of philanthropic projects. There is even a committee charged with cheering up members facing hard times, such as with the death of a loved one.
Some of the projects that go beyond benefiting members are quilts for the “Home of the Brave” project, the neonatal unit at Mercy hospital, and for The Painted Turtle Camp, which provides a camp experience for children facing serious illness.
Home of the Brave quilts are given to families of local fallen. The quilts are designed after those sewn by Union women in the Civil War for soldiers and hospitals. The quilts follow a pattern of the “long quilt,” which fit an army issued cot at the time. It is estimated that 220,000 quilts of this nature were made during the war, but only six have survived.
“It is pretty amazing to think that many were made, considering this was before sewing machines,” said McChesney.
The family of local fallen marine Adam Zanutto recently wrote a letter to the guild in appreciation for the quilt that they received.
“There are no words to convey our deep appreciation to your organization for remembering Adam’s sacrifice and the other fallen military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan,” wrote parents Donna and Rick Zanutto. “There is still and will always be a huge hole in our hearts, but you have made the going easier, just knowing that these brave soldiers will not be forgotten.”
Small quilts that are 32 by 32 inches are also made to protect preemies in the neonatal unit. The quilts, given to the parents, protect from excess light and noise.
“If you have ever been in that neonatal unit, you know that it is pretty sterile,” said Colbert. “The quilts are brightly colored and give the unit a homey effect for the parents.”
At quilting shows and other guild appearances, there have been proud parents that seek the group out to thank them for the quilts.
With strength in numbers, quilting is here to stay.
“Quilting is a 2 billion dollar a year industry,” said McChesney. “I think it has taken the place of crafts like macramé and ceramics and is going to stay because we make something useful. You can have too many bowls and cups, but you can never have too many blankets and quilts.”
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CPQ Quilt Show 2008
“Patchwork Nation – Baltimore to Bakersfield”
• Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern County presents their bi-annual quilt show.
• Kern County Fairgrounds, 1142 S. P St.
• Friday, Jan. 25, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Jan 26, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Award–Winning Featured Artist: Cindy Seitz–Krug
• Hand made items will be available at our Country Store.
• Approximately 200 quilts will be on display.
• There will be between 25 and 30 vendors.
• Multiple prizes will be given out each day. A drawing for the opportunity quilt will be held on Saturday at 4 p.m. (winner need not be present)
• Admission is $5 daily or $8 for a two-day pass.
• Fairground parking is $2 daily.
• Husbands and children under 12 are free.
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